


Bon Appétit

by Animalziz



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: (i can't speak french), M/M, Merman!Kaneki, blame tsukiyama, human!tsukiyama, mermaid au, random french and italian words, though mostly french, tsukiyama is worthless at sailing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-20 01:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9470123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animalziz/pseuds/Animalziz
Summary: The quest for a legendary creature's delicious heart leaves Tsukiyama stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere with only his saviour in sight. Could this be the chance he's been hoping for? Will he finally be able to reach his goal?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nathalie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nathalie/gifts).



> This is the first fanfic I've written in a very long time, not to mention being the first one I'm posting here as well as my first time writing these characters - and I haven't watched the anime since last year - so the characters might be a bit ooc or the story a tad weird. In any case, I hope you enjoy it! I wrote it for my friend Nathalie's birthday (which is today; happy birthday, nerd), but I hope whoever feels like reading this train wreck of mine will at least find it somewhat amusing~! Thank you!

Blue. Why was everything blue? Eyes slowly adjusting, the young man averted his gaze from the sky and struggled to sit up on what seemed to be a beach. Had to be, really, with all that annoying sand getting absolutely everywhere, if the tell-tale itch beneath his clothes meant anything. Slowly looking around, the man did in fact confirm that he was on a shore, surrounded by lush foliage and pieces of driftwood. Wait. Driftwood? Realisation dawning, the man frantically searched the horizon for any signs of a ship, finding none. Crap. He'd been shipwrecked. Again. This was the second time in just a couple of months, all in the quest for that one elusive creature. Last time, a ship had passed by immediately, picking him up before his brain could even think of regaining consciousness – however, it didn't seem like he'd have such luck this time. Heaving a sigh, the man took his frustration out on his hair, pulling at his long, violet fringe. His clothes, much like said locks, were stiff with the residue of saltwater, scraping his skin when he uncomfortably shifted around on the sand with an undignified grimace. A sudden splash drew his attention, causing him to quickly swivel his head around to find its source. There, almost hidden by a large rock in the sea, was a young black-haired boy peeking shyly at the man. A slim, beautiful tail glimmered amongst the waves, its white scales reflecting the sunlight marvellously. A dangerous glint appeared in the man's eyes. _Finally_.  
  
“Uhm,” the boy began nervously, “are you alright?” Not quite meeting the man's eyes, he fiddled with his fingers without even appearing to notice. The man's predatory grin quickly melted into a charming smile, flashing perfect white teeth at the younger male, trying to put him at ease. It seemed to work, as when the boy glanced at him, it was with a tentative smile of his own.  
  
“Oui, I'm feeling marvellous, and I gather it's all thanks to you, mon cher!” Eyes widening at the remark, the boy shrank a bit further behind the rock, a pink blush dusting his cheeks slightly. Delightfully taking note of this, the man continued with a slight bow;  
  
“My name is Tsukiyama Shuu. Whose acquaintance do I have the pleasure of making?”  
  
“...Kaneki. Kaneki Ken,” came the soft answer, causing a shiver to run down his spine at the sound of the creature's voice. It reminded him of bells ringing in the distance, calling sailors to a safe port to rest. Oh, yes. This one would do _splendidly_. If he could win his trust, then it would be just a matter of time before he'd reach his goal. At long last, his dream would come true! He-  
  
“Uhm!” The boy – _Kaneki_ – interrupted his thoughts. “I thought you might be hungry, so I brought you a couple of fish; figured you might have a hard time finding sustenance by yourself. ...Er, you _do_ eat fish, right..?”  
  
“Oui, oui! That I _certainly_ do, my dear Kaneki~!” Tsukiyama replied with a huge smirk, which Kaneki, although slightly bewildered, returned as a gentle smile, before diving back underwater the fetch them both their dinner.  
* * * * *  
With only the moonlight to guide him, Tsukiyama decided to make his move. He'd waited long enough, managed to gain Kaneki's trust to the amount that the boy had elected to sleep close to the shore last night. The lucky streak continued with the starry night sky being fully visible – perfect conditions to put his plan into action. There was no reason to postpone doing so any longer, and yet he found himself wondering whether he should really do it that night. Maybe it'd be better to wait another day? But no; the sky was clear, he'd won his trust, and he'd soon be on his way to attain eternal life – he'd fought for this for so long. He'd finally be able to fulfil his lifelong dream, the one he'd kept in his heart ever since he was but a child, hearing his grandfather's stories about captains sailing the seven seas forever. Not that he necessarily wanted to sail – everyone could tell it wasn't his strong suit with how many ships he'd wrecked thus far – but to be young and beautiful for all time didn't sound too bad, right? Besides, he'd heard that mermaid hearts were supposed to be _delicious_ – wasn't it time to see if a merman's tasted the same?  
  
Having made up his mind, he picked up a broken piece of coral which he'd uncovered earlier that day, and decided to sneak up on the unconscious boy. The sharp edges of the makeshift weapon felt good in his hand, giving him a surge of strength and confidence. So close. He was so, _so_ close now. Almost vibrating with excitement, he loomed over Kaneki, who had yet to stir from his slumber. A near manic grin was etched across Tsukiyama's face, teeth glistening in the pale moonlight. This was it. Slowly lowering himself so that he was kneeling behind the merman, he steadied his hand and pressed the coral against the boy's throat. He felt him stiffen against the sharp polyp digging into sensitive skin, forcing a few beads of blood to burst forth. Feeling invigorated by the heavenly scent drifting from the wound, almost getting drunk off of it, Tsukiyama decided to toy a bit with the young sea creature, leaning close to his ear.  
  
“Ah, amore mio, it seems like this is the end for y-”  
  
A sudden vicious sting across his left eye interrupted him, causing him to yelp and let go of both Kaneki and the coral, instinctively opting to cradle his face instead, covering the claw wound. Blood trickled through his fingers, dripping into the newly vacated sand in front of him, as he slowly realised what had happened, trying to think through the burning sensation threatening to overcome all of his senses. A weak chuckle escaped his still parted lips, before he fell back onto the beach and succumbed to the pain.  
* * * * *  
Waking up never was Tsukiyama's favourite part of the day, but that morning sure took the prize. Being only able to see through one eye, as well as feeling the early stages of an infection setting in, he could easily fit that particular daybreak into his bottom five. Grunting as he tried to straighten himself on the beach, he almost immediately doubled over again, failing to find his balance. The waves danced in front of him – even the few trees providing slight shade appeared to move with more than the non-existent breeze. Seemed he'd already managed to develop a fever, then. He resolved to crawl a bit further away from the water, trying to find relief away from the harsh sunlight. A complaint from his stomach reminded him that he needed food – judging by the sunlight it was already well into the day, nearly noon, and he hadn't eaten since last night. Looking around, he saw a few trees and bushes with what appeared to be edible fruit, but what he really needed was fresh water. Determined, Tsukiyama forced his tired body to move further in amongst the greenery, convinced that he'd be able to find a spring of some kind. And he was right. It was very small, and probably not the cleanest water he'd ever seen, but it was still blessedly unsalted and surprisingly delicious, something that probably was proof of how parched his body had become in just one day. A mumbled “très bien..!” under his breath conveyed the intense alleviation he felt as the water surged through his cells, leaving hope in its wake. He could do this! Surely he could survive until a ship came along to give him a lift back home again.  
  
The fruit turned out to be poisonous. He ended up emptying his body of the little nourishment he had left of the fish the merman had fetched for him, leaving him even weaker and more unsteady than before. He didn't even have power enough to move closer to the spring, rendering him essentially helpless. That had been a couple of days ago. So this was how it was going to end, huh? All alone on a shore in the middle of nowhere, just because he was unable to differentiate one fruit from another. He couldn't even find proper food, how had he ever been able to think he could catch a mermaid? Or a merman, for that matter. Weakly turning his head to the side, Tsukiyama gazed upon the slightly blurry waves. Not long left now, if his quickly worsening eyesight was any indication. A black figure appeared amongst the waves, seemingly hesitantly moving a bit closer to his location. Ah. Death couldn't be too far off if he'd started hallucinate as well. An almost content sigh left his parched lips as the silhouette came even closer, nearly close enough for him to properly make out despite his predicament. Worried grey eyes stood out brightly against the surrounding darkness before it, finally, claimed him.  
* * * * *  
The sound of splashing water roused him from his sleep. This had gone on for nearly two weeks; every morning he'd wake up to a couple of dead fish thrown up on the beach, and at some point during the afternoon there'd be another two. He'd tried to stay awake all night, trying to catch the merman in the act, but it was all in vain – the fish didn't appear until after he woke up from his morning nap in that case. Same if he tried to see him during the day, staying on the beach until nightfall – then he'd just get three fish the morning thereafter instead. Despite all his valiant efforts to interact with the creature, Kaneki seemed just as bent on avoiding him like the plague. He would lie if he claimed to still have a simple culinary interest in him – he was much more curious about the boy himself. Who in their right mind would save someone after said someone had tried to kill them? Desperate to find out the reason, and perhaps at the same time even get to know more about the younger male apart from his evident kindness and selflessness as well, Tsukiyama longed for when he'd finally succeed in meeting Kaneki eye to eye once again.  
  
One day Tsukiyama woke up to a fearsome thrashing noise and a sudden lack of fish. Upon further investigation he found his merman stuck in a fishing net, with two ugly characters struggling to retain their grip on it from an old fishing boat. The more Kaneki fought against them, the more tangled he became, until the thread sank into his skin so deeply it sliced right through. The bleeding boy caused more than the water to become red – the anger Tsukiyama felt threatened to explode, until it had long since passed being a mere risk.  
  
“...mine.” The two men jumped at his voice, not having noticed him before, but did not lose their hold on the netting. Dumb sneers emerged on their faces as they realised what he'd said.  
  
“What, this stupid little fish? Sorry, mate, but he's gonna fetch us a mighty prize, he is,” one of the men boasted. Tsukiyama felt something break inside of him, making him shift his grip on the coral he'd once again armed himself with.  
  
“He. Is. Mine. _Mine_. MINE, MINE, MINE, MINEMINEMINEMINEMINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Voice rising to a painful octave, Tsykiyama went on a near rampage, slashing at everything he could reach; their hands, arms, chests, faces, even the net itself. In the middle of the vicious assault, Kaneki finally managed to free himself from the trashed fishing net, eyes glinting red as he stared at the men who in vain were trying to escape Tsukiyama's wrath. With one smooth leap over the boat, Kaneki grabbed both men and brought them back into the ocean with him, tearing them limb from limb using both claws and teeth. He even ate some of their flesh, his wounds seemingly knitting themselves back together whilst he partook of his meal. Tsukiyama was mesmerised, unable to turn away from the gruesome scene. By now, both of them were covered in the villains' blood. Eventually the struggle in the water died down, and the two who were left breathing stared at each other, not quite knowing what to say. Tsukiyama decided to break the silence.  
  
“I'm sorry,” he began, hesitating slightly. “And thank you. For bringing me food. I've been trying to speak with you for some time now,” Kaneki avoiding his gaze told him that he'd been aware of that, “but I have to ask, why didn't you kill me when I tried to do the very same to you?” Tsukiyama awkwardly finished, wincing slightly at the mention of his failed murder attempt.  
  
“...I felt intrigued by you,” the merman mumbled, face once again that charming shade of pink – or it could just be residual blood from the slaughtered men. Tsukiyama's face, however, broke into a large grin, despite the stiffness the dried blood caused on his cheeks.  
  
“Well then, mon cher,” he grandly stated with a sweeping gesture, “perhaps we should start over?”  
  
An amused chuckle escaped Kaneki, before he grabbed Tsukiyama's hand to pull him into the water with him.  
  
“Or we could go in a different direction,” he suggested, bringing their faces close together. Kaneki's lips tasted sweeter than any heart possibly could – but perhaps that, too, was already his.  
* * * * *  
The next morning greeted Tsukiyama with a difficult choice to make. The fishing boat the brutes had left behind was still fully functioning, and he could now leave if he so wished. He was feeling torn to say the least; he was finally on speaking terms with the creature of his dreams – and even more than that! In the end, it was Kaneki who made the choice for him.  
  
“You can't stay here forever, you know,” he said with sad eyes. Before Tsukiyama could protest however, he pointed out: “You need more than just fish and spring water to survive. And you... you can't come back with me.” He was right, of course, but knowing that didn't make it any easier.  
  
“We'll meet again,” he promised. “Wait for me.” And with those words, the paths of the two were divided once more.  
* * * * *  
_A few months later_

The moonlight shining down on the small fishing village was the brightest it had been in weeks. A lone figure was moving down towards the harbour, keeping to the shadows. Finally having reached his apparent destination, the man entered one of the boats, taking it out to sea. After travelling for some time, he came upon a small island in the middle of nowhere. And there, on that very shore, a creature out of myths and legends sat waiting for him.


End file.
